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Everything you always wanted to know about France - from France |
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Do We Pay Tax in France If We Work OffshoreHello, I am French, my partner is Canadian, we have two girls, we would like to move to France next year. My husband works offshore in China, and will not be able to stay more than 183 days in France. I would like to know the best way to move in France, we are not married, can we buy a property, maybe in my name, or his name? we are worried about the taxes? could you advice us? thanks a lot. Isabelle === Hello Isabelle You will need careful independent advice on this. My understanding is that even if your partner is not living in France for more than 183 days, if his family is here permanently then France will be considered his principal residence and he will have to declare and pay tax in France on ALL income from anywhere, even if it is not brought into France. It seems most people are not married nowadays and this is not relevant. Even if the property was solely in your name, as you are a family, then your partner could still be considered as a French resident if his family was resident in France. You also have to have careful advice on inheritance tax as it is normally the children who inherit a property and this cannot be altered easily once the property is purchased. Buying through a company, a SCI, may be a solution, but again you will need good professional advice for this I have written about this in some newsletters, you can search the archives at http://nizas.com/newsletters/archives/ Take care Tony === Hello Tony, thanks a lot for your help. I have an other question about people who work for the oil company my husband works for one. He told me that all the people he met and live in France, could be French or British do not pay tax? I tried to find something about that on French and UK web sits but no answer. Have you heard something about that? Thanks again, Isabelle === Hello Isabelle You do need to take independent professional advice on this, do consult someone like http://stephensmithfranceltd.com/ . Take no notice of anyone else, thee is no way you can live in France and not pay tax without breaking the law. If you are a resident in France then you have to complete a declaration of all your world-wide income to the tax office every year. I believe that a large percentage of the population do not come into the income tax thresholds, this is because wages in France are very low and many people do not earn enough to pay direct income tax. But the social charges and fixed costs paid by employers account for about 50% of the cost of employing anyone. If you are self employed then over 50% of your income is taken in fixed taxes and social charges before you earn any profit, then all profits are taxed. From what you have told me, my understanding is (I am not a professional advisor) you partner would be considered a resident if his family is living in France and he frequently came to France. Not to declare and pay tax on all global income would be an offence. It would certainly annoy all the people living here who do pay. There is an illegal economy in France, as there is in most countries, the tax offices are getting more aggressive, you may get away with it - for a while. But there is no statute of limitations in France. If you live in France with children you will need to be "in the system" for health and education at least. You will have to register and this means you will liable to social charges and income tax. There are specialist companies who advise people on avoiding taxation and there are some places left in the world which are outside of the regulations for the various "disclosure of information" requirements - I believe Malta, Monaco, Luxembourg and a few hidey-holes will sell fiscal sanctuary for a few years yet. I do not know any advisors well, I know of a company called Blevins Franks who are very visible. http://www.blevinsfranks.com/ Hope this helps Tony There are over 2,000 features and articles on this site about French life and living in France. You can search from the search box above. Do browse through our website and please use the advertising links, they help pay for the site. I do try to reply to all mail - Contact Me - most is about property or living in France. I publish comments in this newsletter which I believe are of interest and may help find answers for people wanting to come to France. I hope readers will go to the adverts which help support our overheads. |
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